While We're Gone: Asiatic Plains
5 million years in the future...and well, I'm sure you know the story by now. Ice age, everyone's feeling the chills, and here is no exception. For the sake of clarity, we're not speaking of Southeast Asia, where Australasia now stands, but instead focus on the main continent. In other words, we'll focus on how it affects places such as China and India. So with this in mind, within this 5 million year time frame, the ice caps have reached the very top of Asia, but that's now how the climate really changed. No, by this point, the Himalayas have grown taller than before and have begun to rift Asia. Not quite as bad as the Rift Valley, but the symptoms are there. Because of this, tremors are common around here, and the animals here had to adapt to such a more...shaky environment. Sadly, not everyone's made it; the tiger and the critically endangered species have disappeared, and the 5 million year gap, while helped them regrow somewhat, didn't do them too many favors. However, there are exceptions in terms of big cats. Enter the Siberian Snowstalker; despite the name, they're not relatives of the Snowstalkers of Europe. These are by far more dangerous in terms of ferocity! Sure, the European Snowstalker's a brute, but these Siberian varieties are bigger, angrier, and able to strike down just about any prey items they can! Fortunately, they mostly patrol the tundras of Siberia, near the fringes of the ice caps, and some of northern China. Despite looking like tigers, they're actually cousins of the snow leopard, which have recovered their population after humans left. These ferocious felines hunt the mainstay of China at this time, the Bamboobaras. Again, despite the name, they're not relatives of capybaras from South America, but rather the descendants of the large bamboo rat. These rats are common across China since the panda became more a ground sloth-like creature, which left a gap for these mighty rats to fill. They travel in small herds up to 15 or so, and search for bamboo wherever they can find it, as well as the bark of most trees. They're mostly called this for their size, which is about as big as a modern sheep. But that's not to say that Bamboobaras have it easy; they have competition elsewhere in China beyond the Siberian Snowstalker. Namely, another strong feline, the Bambooprowler; descended from the Clouded Leopard.They're smaller than the Siberian Snowstalker, but are also more widespread, eating a variety of mammals, lizards and birds. They patrol the treeline as well as the forest floor, patrolling for whatever prey items are available. But I know what you're saying, "What's all this forest floor crap? Didn't you call it the Asiatic Plains?" Well, don't rush me, I'm getting to that. You see, what I've described so far is areas near the great river courses, which support what few forests are left in China. With India, it's less of an issue due to connections with Australasia, but here, it's mostly been replaced by bamboo-dominated grasslands. Here is where the Bamboobaras love to roam, and often consume up to 50 pounds of food a day. In spite rodents taking up roles formerly belonging to bigger herbivores of today, there's still a few ungulates that roam China. Enter the Takin descendant known as the Hornshoe; so-called for its horshoe-shaped horns, these goat antelopes live just south of the bamboo plains, sometimes working with Bamboobaras should they meet as protection against Bambooprowlers. Like deers do today, they joust with this bizarre headgear during mating season, and act similarly to wildebeest in terms of migration patterns. As we gaze upon the Asiatic plains of China and India, we see what appear to be large, white gorillas with bushy facial hair. In reality, though, they're actually monkeys; descendants of the Grey Langurs that are common throughout East and Southeast Asia called Manglurs. As Langurs are surprisingly adaptable both in the trees and on the ground, it wasn't that much of a transition to adapt to a grassland-woodland habitat. Roaming the plains; these large primates get their name from how they react to both rival troops and predators. That is to say, they have a powerful ferocity that is unmatched by most other creatures on the savanna. Despite this powerful anger, however, they're actually gentle herbivores; eating the bamboos that thrive in this grassy-open woodland environment. With fewer trees than before, the peafowl has evolved to a flightless lifestyle. Their tails grew bigger, so as to stand out when courting females in the long grass. They also gained long legs, which run up to 40 miles and hour. These are the descendants of the infamous peacock, the Jewelcock! They nest and raise chicks similarly to an ostrich, with the males and females taking turns sitting on the eggs. The only downside, at least for the males, is that their large tails make them big targets for predators, especially the Siberian Snowstalker. Much like with Rifted Africa, we have two old friends returning, but these are slightly different than before. The first is the fierce Bonecrusher, albeit smaller than its cousin. Except, where the African Bonecrusher was descended from the spotted hyena, the striped hyena took up the task of the Asiatic Bonecrusher, albeit with the same strengths applied. Besides, that, there's a now bigger, and stronger cousin of both the Pachypig and the Scrofa: the Scrofaderm! Descended from the wild boar, much like the Scrofa, this large boar has taken up a role formerly used by the Indian elephant, traveling in herds, armed with a distended snout, and can usually found near the rivers or out on the plains. But it's not just the mammals that dominate the landscape; there are many reptiles that call the plains home, including the river patrolling Icthial. Despite the name, the Icthial is not related to the gharial. Tragically, they became extinct due to their endangered status and the rapid loss of jungle habitat. However, the far more flexible saltwater crocodile took up its task, its jaws resembling a hybrid between the two species. They're ambush predators, attacking any large prey items that take a drink at the watering hole. Speaking of ambushes, there are many dangers out on the Asiatic plains; large striped hyenas, angry langurs and elephant-pigs, even a leopard that resembles a tiger! But there's one that even they fear; a powerful serpent known as the Asiatic Strangleholder, and descendant of the reticulated python. Large and in charge, they'll attack anything big, including their old rivals, the crocodile. They hide in the murky waters of the rivers and streams, strangling the life out of anything that tries to take a drink. Fortunately, they only eat once per month, as a big meal can satisfy their appetite for a very long time. In short, in 5 million years time, the Earth has seen many great Asian beasts come and go. But now, out of the wilderness appears unique, bizarre life that could only come from such circumstances. That about wraps up our look into the Ice Age, but join us next time as we delve into the 50 million year time frame, and watch the world change for a much more unrecognizable future. Winter may have came, but now...summer is coming! Category:While We're Gone Category:5 Million Years Category:Future Earth Category:Asiatic Plains